The November 2016 ballot could be brimming with weighty ballot initiatives, including measures to legalize marijuana, overturn California’s new vaccine law, raise the minimum wage and restrict what bathrooms transgender people can use.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield listens as Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio speaks to reporters Tuesday after a House Republican Conference meeting. McCarthy is widely expected to succeed Boehner as speaker next month. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

By Noah Bierman September 29, 2015

When Kevin McCarthy spoke at a California Republican convention a few years ago, he regaled the crowd with stories about his tense relationship with Nancy Pelosi: The Democratic leader, he said, greeted him with a sneering “he-llo Kevin” every time she saw him, the way Jerry Seinfeld used to greet his nemesis, Newman.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

On the show today Lou is joined by Ryan Hagen, report at the San Bernardino Sun to discuss San Bernardino’s decision to raise a fee (tax) on sewage service in the city. Do San Bernardino residents need more taxes?

Housing in California — already considered unaffordable to many — will become even less affordable over the next two years, with construction unable to keep up with demand, according to a UCLA economic forecast released Monday.

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. (File photo)

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will not be immune from prosecution if he is called to testify in the corruption case against his former second-in-command and reveals any criminal activity that occurred in the jails under his watch.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

On a very special edition of the Lou Desmond and company show, Lou is joined by Tom Del Beccaro, Cliff Cummings and renowned economist Stephen Moore to discuss the state of the economy and what we can do to improve it. Tom also talks about his support of the flat tax and shares more information on that.

Donald Trump’s tax plan, set to unveiled Monday, calls for no federal income tax for individuals earning less than $25,000 and married couples earning less than $50,000.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump plans to unveil an ambitious tax plan Monday that he says would eliminate income taxes for millions of households, lower the tax rate on all businesses to 15% and change tax treatment of companies’ overseas earnings.

House Speaker John Boehner flanked by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

By Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan 09/28/15 – 05:12 AM EDT

He’s the overwhelming favorite to replace John Boehner but the Freedom Caucus still presents a big hurdle.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has glided to victory in each of his leadership races — one for majority whip, and two for majority leader — by simply winning the support of more than half the members of the Republican Conference.

After 13 years, House Speaker John Boehner is set to resign.

By Mike DeBonis and Kelsey Snell September 26, 2015 at 9:18 PM

House Speaker John A. Boehner’s stunning resignation throws the congressional agenda into disarray, with short-term hope for passing crucial items offset by the long-term fear that old battles will only be repeated.

Carly Fiorina presided over a tough time at HP, and her performance draws strong feelings. (Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images)

By Drew Harwell and Danielle Paquette September 26, 2015 at 8:12 PM

At a polished New York press announcement in 2001, Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, then the most powerful woman in American business, unveiled an immensely risky mega-merger whose success she promised with her signature showmanship: “If you don’t believe it, watch.”

Sometimes they are not present because of illness or have been excused from session for legislative or personal business, such as campaign meetings. Sometimes lawmakers are present yet still don’t vote.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will be the next target of conservatives frustrated with party leadership, according to one of the conservative representatives who pressured House speaker John Boehner in the weeks leading up to his resignation.

The California Air Resources Board is expected to decide, on Friday, to restore rules requiring a 10 precent cut in carbon emissions on fuels sold in the state, by 2020, despite oil industry objections that it could drive up gas prices.

By Judy Lin, Associated Press Sept. 25, 2015 | 12:38 a.m. EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators are poised to restore a first-in-the-nation climate change program that requires a 10 percent cut in carbon emissions on transportation fuels sold in the state by 2020, despite oil industry objections that it could drive up gas prices.

During a month in which some of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest donors fretted, obsessed and second-guessed over her campaign, it wasn’t Clinton’s big policy speeches on healthcare or her vow to block the Keystone XL pipeline that helped ease nerves.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

Dr. Adrian Moore of the Reason Foundation joins the show. Up first, he and Lou discuss a recent case of discrimination at USC that became a “national” story. So what happened, and why are things not as they seem?

San Bernardino City Councilman Benito Barrios posted a gun for sale on his Facebook page Monday night, during a council meeting. (Google Images)

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun Posted: 09/22/15 – 9:45 PM PDT |

SAN BERNARDINO >> As a citizen committee explained recommended changes to the city’s charter during a City Council meeting Monday, Councilman Benito Barrios was on Facebook, trying to sell his friend’s gun.

RIVERSIDE >> A new Inland Empire-based research center for economic forecasting will open in October, the School of Business Administration at the University of California, Riverside, announced this week.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

Lou is joined by Father Josiah, from St. Andrew, to discuss the canonization of Father Junípero Serra today. Should Serra be a saint, or is he a mass-murdering criminal? After that, Ken White joins the show to round up the week in law enforcement with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Years of mishandling dangerous radioactive materials and chemicals has also left a toxic legacy for generations of people living near the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser September 22, 2015

Tucked away in the hills above the San Fernando and Simi valleys was a 2,800-acre laboratory with a mission that was a mystery to the thousands of people who lived in its shadow. In a place called Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), there was a secret collaboration between the U.S. government and private companies to test the limits of nuclear power.

Legislation gives local agencies ways to pay for projects once funded by redevelopment

Four years after approving legislation that ended the anti-blight redevelopment program in California, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill giving local agencies a way to pay for similar projects.

California’s state and local governments collected nearly $412 billion in taxes, fees, interest, federal grants and other payments in 2012 and spent nearly $449 billion, according to a new Census Bureau report.

A strong performance in last week’s Republican presidential debate has raised former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s public profile, but not nearly enough to cut into real estate mogul Donald Trump’s lead over the rest of the GOP field.

As Hillary Clinton’s ratings tumble, nearly half of those surveyed say they want the vice president in the race.

One quarter of Americans who are registered Democrats or lean that way say Vice President Joe Biden is now their top choice for president. The findings of a national Bloomberg Politics poll released Wednesday represent a notable achievement for an as-yet undeclared candidate, suggest concerns about Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, and raise the prospect of a competitive three-way race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Des Moines, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she opposes construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, breaking her longstanding silence over a project criticized by environmentalists as a threat to the planet’s climate.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

On the show today: Ralph Rossum, constitutional scholar, and Lou discuss Ben Carson’s Muslim comments. Ryan Hagen, reporter for the Sun, talks with Lou about last night’s 9-hour council meeting in San Bernardino. Finally, Lou’s Favorite Liberal Georgine Trujillo joins the show to discuss the Army’s allowing Iraqis to sexually assault children.

County policy discourages it, and many urban police departments ban it, but the San Bernardino County sheriff defends the action when others’ lives are in danger.

Published: Sept. 21, 2015 – Updated: 9:27 p.m.

Shooting at a suspect from a helicopter, as a San Bernardino County sheriff’s sharpshooter did Friday during a wrong-way chase on I-215 north of San Bernardino, presents such great risks to the public that it should be attempted only as a “last resort” when people’s lives are threatened, an expert said Monday.

To read article by David Downey and Brian Rokos in The Press-Enterprise, click here.

VICTORVILLE — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into an allegedly fraudulent 2008 municipal bond offering also uncovered that the city’s bond underwriter may have taken an unauthorized fee of about $3.5 million for managing four hangars at Southern California Logistics Airport, federal court records show.

Hospital operator Prime Healthcare Services Inc. is suing California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris for imposing strict restrictions that caused the Ontario company to back out of its attempted purchase of six Roman Catholic hospitals earlier this year.

Democrats facing tough elections have been running away from Obamacare in their campaigns almost since the law was passed, but Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking a different approach. She is embracing it.

Democratic partisans have been rubbing their hands with glee as billionaire Donald Trump’s antics have dominated the Republican primary. I hope they’re enjoying themselves, because they soon may find themselves in their own world of hurt.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

First on the show tonight, Beth Baumann, writer for Politichicks, joins the show to give the inside story on Scott Walker’s withdrawal from the presidential race. Then Estimable Economist Jay Prag joins the program. He and Lou take some lessons from sports and apply them to business.

Hillary Clinton bouncing back in new poll

Hillary Clinton’s lead in the Democratic primary has expanded to 18 percentage points nationally

If Joe Biden doesn’t enter the race, Clinton’s lead would grow to nearly 2-to-1 over Bernie Sanders

Washington (CNN) — Hillary Clinton’s lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown — and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay out of the race, her numbers would rise even higher, a new CNN/ORC poll shows.

The Republican presidential campaign came to California en masse last week for the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and when it ended the candidates largely beat it for more productive environs.

After the CalPERS staff gave the board a correction last week for providing misinformation about private equity fees, the board member who has been grilling staff on the issue walked out of a private staff meeting because he was not allowed to record it.

DURHAM, N.H. — Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders drew an estimated 3,000 people to a boisterous rally here Sunday night at the University of New Hampshire, about five times as many people as Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton attracted to an event two days ago at the same campus.

More than a third of Republican voters say that Carly Fiorina performed best in the Wednesday night debate on CNN. But debate performances don’t translate into vote preference overnight, and Donald Trump maintains his position at the top of the Republican pack, according to the latest NBC News online survey conducted by SurveyMonkey from Wednesday through Friday.

After days of scorching criticism, Donald Trump defended his decision to let stand a comment disparaging Muslims, and told a conference of conservative Christians Saturday evening that he would fight to protect their right to practice Christianity inside the U.S.

Capitol Alert By Christopher Cadelago and David Siders ccadelago@sacbee.com September 19, 2015

One change would remove the term ‘illegal alien’

Another would change ‘English-only’ position on government documents

In its latest attempt to heal political divisions with Latinos, the California Republican Party is moving to alter its platform on immigration and social issues, a rebranding maneuver some activists believe better reflects new norms and rapidly changing demographics.

Trump did not dispute the man’s claims made at a town hall event this week

“Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!” he tweeted

Washington (CNN) — Donald Trump on Saturday said it is not his job to correct supporters’ claims about the President, defending his decision not to take issue with a man who disparaged Muslims and said President Barack Obama is not an American.

Judge Meredith Jury ruled Thursday the city hadn’t met its legal obligation to bargain with the fire union before outsourcing the Fire Department. FILE PHOTO

By Ryan Hagen, The Sun Posted: 09/17/15 – 11:00 PM PDT |

RIVERSIDE >> In a decision she acknowledged “puts a bunch of marbles on the road to reorganization” for San Bernardino, Judge Meredith Jury ruled Thursday the city hadn’t met its legal obligation to bargain with the fire union before outsourcing the Fire Department.

The state’s campaign finance watchdog agency on Thursday adopted new requirements that nonprofit groups that contribute through a federal political action committee to support or oppose ballot measures or candidates in California must disclose their donors.

Cautious Federal Reserve policymakers on Thursday held a key interest rate at near zero, opting to wait longer to remove the unprecedented easy-money stimulus to determine whether recent global financial market volatility has slowed the U.S. economy.

From right: Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and other candidates take the stage for the Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on Wednesday. Fiorina’s steely, self-assured and at times deeply personal debate performance on Wednesday could help the Republican Party appeal more effectively to women. (Monica Almeida/ The New York Times)

Capitol Alert By David Siders dsiders@sacbee.com September 17, 2015

Presidential candidate was riding high in U.S. Senate race in 2010

She ultimately lost to Barbara Boxer

Supporters say California experience made Fiorina sharper candidate

SIMI VALLEY–

In her first debate against Democrat Barbara Boxer in California’s Senate race five years ago, Carly Fiorina waited all of one minute to broadside the incumbent Democrat in her opening remarks.

The Lou Desmond and Company Show is broadcasting from the Toyota of San Bernardino Recording Studios!

Lou is joined by Matthew LePlante, assistant professor of journalism at University of Utah to discuss the crime and murders in El Salvador. In a single day, 51 people were murdered. So what’s the answer to the problem?

Frustration with the influence of big donors in politics has helped propel the presidential candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running as a Democrat. (Rob Brown/Associated Press)

By Matea Gold September 16, 2016 at 3:00 PM

When Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jim Heerwagen decided to invest in an effort to reduce the influence of big money on politics, he considered a push for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

More than one in five people were living in poverty in San Bernardino County last year while the poverty rate in Los Angeles County didn’t lag far behind, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.